Tuskegee Syphilis Paper

Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment was a 40 years study from 1932 to 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama. The experiment was conducted on a group of 399 impoverished and illiterate African American sharecroppers. This disease was not; however revealed to them by the US Government. They were told they were going to receive treatment for bad blood. The study proved to be one of the most horrendous studies carried out that disregarded the basic ethical principles of conduct. It symbolized medical and disregard for human life. Standard medical treatment at the time were toxic, dangerous and, often time questionable in respect to effect. Some of the studies were being addressed to determine if a patient was better off not being treated at all. Researchers also tried to prolong any treatment to study the different stages of syphilis so they may be able to find a more suitable means of treatment. Medical ethics during this time did not have standard for informing patients. Information often withheld regarding their condition so patients often went through testing and treatment with little knowledge of consequences. By experiencing the study the participants were kept in the dark about the disease so they would co-operation.

During this time these men were considered subjects, not patients. They were not considered patients, but clinical material instead of sick people. Most of the experiments data was collected from autopsies. These men were left to degenerate under the disease. Tumors, heart disease, paralysis even insanity were what they were left to face if not treated. The Tuskegee experiment was identified as ‘the longest non-therapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history’.

The burden of medical experiments was borne by those that could not protect...